We believe in finding you the lowest cost option for the repair of your car and if that means we lose out – we don’t mind! We have the longer term cares of the world and our Grand Children on our mind.

There is now a perfectly professional group of companies that re-cycle and salvage parts from vehicle write offs. These parts when they are the same colour as your car will save you a fortune and we always advise of this option when you come to us for an estimate.

We believe that if we are honest with you and give you the best options for your car, you will trust us, knowing that we are doing the best for you, your vehicle and for the environment – this is our Green Goal.

Car Transplants is the founder of RecycAll, a 13-strong group of ATF’s (Automotive Treatment Facilities) that work in unison to supply green car parts to their networks. All the ATF’s are part of the NSA (National Salvage Association), which audits the ATF’s annually and members must work to EA (Environment Agency) standards in order to be considered for the network. Each member must be able to manifest traceability of every part, showing its previous history.

ooops.net limited also make no profit on the sale of these parts, nor do we on the sale of new parts whereas most body shops put a margin on parts supplied, we never have and include Green parts in this business model.

A re-cycled vehicle part is an undamaged part that has been removed from an end of life vehicle (ELV) and re-used.

There are a number of web-sites that you can visit to purchase these yourself and fit yourself if you so desire, they are:

www.trents.co.uk

www.findapart.com

For the better part of 100 years cars have run on cushions of pressurised air encased in a hard rubber shell (also known as Pneumatic Tyres). That could all be set to change as we enter a new decade as research and production of an airless tyre is more vigorously pursued.

The first and possibly best example is Michelin’s Tweel. First announced in 2005, the Tweel derives it’s name from a combination the words “Tyre” and “Wheel” just as the Tweel itself is a combination of a Tyre and a Wheel, defying the normal wheel hub assembly. The Tweel consists of a solid inner hub which is connected to the axle. Surrounding this is a series of polyurethane spokes laid out in a wedge pattern. These act much in the same way as the air pressure in a normal tyre, absorbing the bumps and smoothing out the ride.

To give the tyre its shape and strength the spokes are secured with a shear band stretched across the outer layer of the spokes. By varying the tension of the band during the manufacturing process you can tweak the Tweel for better comfort or more responsive handling. It is this band that the tread is then attached to.

Advantages

The advantages of the Tweel are fairly obvious even from the first glance. The airless design eliminates the possibility of air leaks or blow outs at high speed for increased safety. And by taking the air pressure out of the equation you are left with more consistent and predictable economy and handling.

The flexible outer band increases the amount of surface area in contact with the road at any given time increasing the levels of grips. This would be particularly useful in off-road situations on rough terrain, and in use in the construction industry on uneven site surfaces.

Flaws

The Tweel is not without its flaws. From the offset, the design and manufacturing methods means they are not adjustable once they come out of the factory. So for better handling or better comfort you need to buy a whole new set of Tweels. An inconvenience, but not necessarily a deal breaker. Day to day most people will not find the need to alter their tyres once they have been optimised for every day road use.

What may be more of a nuisance is that at speeds in excess of 50 mph the Tweels vibrate very badly. This creates an awful lot of noise, which will be uncomfortable for passengers, as well as an awful lot of heat which could become an issue on long distance journeys.

The prototypes tyres are reporting to be yielding a one percent fuel economy against equivalent pneumatic tyres. Not good, but as time goes on this will surely be improved up to a level equal to, and eventually better than, regular tyres.

Initially Michelin are only rolling out Tweels for low speed applications such as construction vehicles, the iBot and the Segway Centaur. Possible military uses are also being explored.

In the last few years however a competitor product has come forward. Resilient Technologies has developed their own “Tweel” using a honeycomb layout for the spokes instead of Michelin’s wedge. The company is reportedly looking at a 2011 push for these into the commercial and industrial market and are currently being tested by the US military. Consumer use models still seem to be a long way off.

Whatever happens, the next few years should certainly be interesting for advancements in tyre technology. This is one tech that is definitely worth looking out for.

Paul started the business in 2002 because he saw a motor industry that was not trusted and saw the opportunity to transmogrify the industry into one that was trusted. To this end, his new team came up with a set of values that would create a culture of trust and this formed their strap line …trust us to make it better!

To Paul, trust is a three-legged stool and if all three legs are not as strong as each other, the stool of trust falls over. The first leg is all about competence and whether it is trust in a partner or trust in a colleague, if someone is not competent in their role they do not have a hope of being trusted. Secondly, one has to co-operate in order to be trusted, there has to be at the very least, excellent two-way communication. Thirdly and the hardest leg to attain and if you think about it, the people you really trust have humility in their dealings with you, they do not talk down to you, they treat you as an equal. These are the people that we really trust.

Paul wanted a culture of trust with a trust worthy team giving trusted service to our clients, who would trust us enough to recommend us to their friends.

With this background the team came up with the following values that we re-visit every year and after seven years they are still as relevant, they are:
Integrity, Pre-eminence, Humanity.
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Dan, our apprentice is just finishing his two week “Block Release up-skilling” at Thatcham Training Centre. Thatcham is funded by the Insurance Industry and is the premier Training Facility in the U.K. it has all the latest technology for the Apprentices to practice with and their Tutors explain the latest techniques. Dan is our fifth apprentice and has been told he has a good chance of winning Apprentice of the Year; we are passionate about helping people help themselves into a rewarding career.

Other than recruiting Apprentices, we do sometimes recruit qualified people from within the industry, I am afraid the Bodyshop Industry does not have enough qualified personnel. If someone wants to join our team from another Bodyshop they need to have ATA that is Automotive Technician Accreditation. Then we have to give them a thorough induction that involves not only the technical aspects, ensuring they are up to speed with our latest technology and innovative processes but also client relationship management or more succinctly how to serve! Read More Here

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I came across and interesting article in this weeks’ Economist, about Renault’s bold plans for a range of zero-emission electric vehicles.

There are mixed opinions on whether the trend will catch on as rapidly as Renault is proposing, but with plans for “leased” swappable batteries and national recharging points as abundant as petrol stations, it’s a definite possibility.

Take a look at the images below of these new concept cars, and decide for yourself as to whether you will be swapping the petrol pump for a 3-pin.

Read the full article here

WARNING: There is a new camera at the Broadstone Way / Cabot Lane Cross Roads, the major cross roads before turning in to visit ooops! this is believed to be both a speed and traffic light camera.

We have just given a facelift to our favourite car ever, a beautiful 1938 Jaguar SS 2.5 L Drop Head in Old English White.

Read the full story and all the photos on our site:
> www.ooops.net/restoration/jaguarSS1938